Former KMT Tainan county speaker Wu starts jail sentence

By Rich Chang / Staff Reporter

Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Tainan County Council speaker Wu Chien-bao (吳健保) yesterday started a two-year jail term for fixing professional baseball games.

The Tainan District Prosecutors Office said Wu, who reported to prosecutors yesterday morning, applied for a delay in the carrying out of his sentence, but prosecutors rejected the request and Wu was taken directly to the Tainan Prison.

The final ruling said that beginning in 2005, Wu ran an illegal gambling business that took bets on professional baseball games.

The ruling added that Wu and three La New Bears players fixed a game when the team played the Chinatrust Whales in Kaohsiung on April 28, 2007, making illegal profits of NT$8,650,000 (US$286,000) from the outcome of the game.

At the time, Wu was serving as an independent Greater Tainan councilor, but was dismissed after being found guilty in the final verdict.

In related news, the Supreme Court yesterday sentenced former prosecutor Wu Chieh-jen (吳傑人) to seven years and six months in prison on counts of corruption, rape, lewd acts and infringement of freedom of movement.

The sentence was a final verdict.

Wu Chieh-jen, who worked at the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office, was found guilty of committing crimes against more than 10 women who were targets of his investigations from 1999 and 2006, the Supreme Court said.

Wu Chieh-jen used his influence as a prosecutor to coerce the women to have sex with him, the ruling said.

Several of the victims were mentally and emotionally traumatized as a result of his actions, the ruling said.